rich
Plousios describes people marked by wealth, and in several clauses portrays abundance in mercy, faith, or claimed prosperity.
The term most often marks people identified by wealth, whether individual figures, social groups, or those addressed in warnings and sayings. A smaller set of clauses applies it to being abundant in mercy or faith, to becoming rich through poverty, and to a claim of having become rich.
Senses in use
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Wealthy people and social groups · dominant
The adjective regularly identifies persons by their wealth: its nominative singular form introduces a man whose land produced abundantly in Luke 12:16 and a man who dressed magnificently in Luke 16:19. Plural forms mark groups who oppress the poor in James 2:6, give much at the treasury in Mark 12:41, or are warned not to place hope in uncertain riches in 1 Timothy 6:17.
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Abundant in a stated quality or condition · occasional
In Ephesians 2:4, the nominative singular form describes God in the clause that the APB renders “rich in mercy.” In James 2:5, the accusative plural form occurs where the APB says that God chose the poor of the world to be “rich in faith”; Revelation 2:9 likewise contrasts poverty with being rich.
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Richness gained, claimed, or contrasted · rare
In 2 Corinthians 8:9, the nominative singular form stands in the contrast that the APB renders “though he was rich” and “might become rich” through poverty. Revelation 3:17 places the same nominative singular form in a speaker's claim, “I am rich and have become rich,” which the verse then contrasts with being poor, blind, and naked.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the verses, the APB commonly presents the term with “rich,” “rich man,” “rich people,” or “the rich,” and in stated-quality clauses uses expressions such as “rich in mercy” and “rich in faith.” These renderings indicate the clauses' presentation rather than a fixed English equivalent in every occurrence.